


Expenses

by wmblake



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, Alternate Universe - Sugar Daddy, Dialogue Heavy, M/M, Med Student Stephen Strange, Sugar Daddy Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-10-11 15:17:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20548298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wmblake/pseuds/wmblake
Summary: Med school/residency Stephen (27) is a Sugar Baby for a Younger Sugar Daddy Tony Stark (21) to the point where, when they go out, no one can tell which is which.





	Expenses

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this post: https://incorrect-ironstrange.tumblr.com/post/187525269504/listen-college-student-stephen-and-sugar-daddy

“I don’t need another watch, Tony.”

“But you like it, don’t you?” Tony grinned. “It’ll look nice on you. C’mon, I haven’t gotten you anything extravagant since your birthday—”

“Do you just not include paying tuition _or_ rent—”

“That’s chump change, baby. You won’t even let me fly you to Italy—”

“I’m working on getting residency. Of course I can’t let you—”

“You’re such a spoilsport. Take some time off. We can stay at my family’s house, so you don’t have to worry about—”

“I know price means nothing to you—”

“I was going to say neighboring hotel rooms.”

Stephen rolled his eyes. He examined the watch, still sitting pristine in its box. “… It is a nice-looking watch.”

“And it would look even nicer on you.” That earned him an exasperated look. “I know, I know, I’m usually the proponent for things getting _off_ you, but—”

“You’re actually usually the proponent for getting me off,” Stephen teased.

“That too. When you’re not being bossy in bed.”

“You like when I’m bossy.” Stephen smiled and shook his head. “For someone who’s the boss of his own company—”

“One, that’s the reason a bunch of people like when other people are bossy in bed, you should know that. Two, I’m not the only person running SI, don’t act like it all rests on me.”

“Thank God it doesn’t. You’d have forgotten about your boards and meetings and stocks fifty times over if it were all up to you.”

“I’m the inventor behind it all, not the executive manager.”

“Considering that CEO stands for—”

“Shut up, shut up. Put on the damn watch.”

“You just want to see me wear things that you bought.”

“Obviously.”

“So the media was right; you _do_ only like me because I’m pretty.”

“The prettiest. But, hey, you get the whole package. I’m pretty, rich, _and_ influential, so the media can never guess which is the reason you’re with me. Or. I guess they just change it up each week, huh?”

“The media is the worst part about dating you.”

“Is not. You can’t stand when I call you at four in the morning to talk about prosthetics.”

“Babe, I can’t help you with the circuitry anyway, and the reason you’re at the forefront of bleeding edge prosthetics after only three months is because _nobody’s_ figured out how to connect wires and nerves. I don’t know why you bother calling me for help.”

“Maybe it’s because I miss you.”

“I’d believe that, if it weren’t for that you’ll call me eight hours after seeing me.”

“I could still miss you! You haven’t agreed to moving in with me yet.”

Stephen raised an eyebrow. “Yet?”

“Well, either you’re going to move in with me because we’ve been dating for over a year now, or you’re going to move in with me because you’re wanting me to put you in my will and then you can easily dispose of me for the cash-out, or you’re going to get around to actually dumping me—but considering that the last time we fought was because I burned food to the pans while making you dinner, I think we’re on pretty good terms. I’d put my murder at maybe 37% likelihood, and you leaving me at maybe 12%.”

“And what’s the percentage for not moving in with you?”

“Are you telling me you’re _not_ going to make an honest man of me? Stephen! For shame.”

Stephen rolled his eyes. “I live closer to the hospital—”

“I literally have a driver. You could sleep in the car on the way home—”

“I like where I live—”

“Babe, it’s one rainy day away from walls entirely made of mold—”

“I wouldn’t be able to have friends over—”

“What friends? From the hospital? Christine is the only person you tolerate there, and she’s more than welcome whenever you want company.”

“Well …”

“Well what? I know she’s not the biggest fan of me, but if you want her over, I can make myself scarce and work in the lab.”

Stephen looked away. “I mean, she might not … exactly … know that we’re back together.”

“Could you repeat that?” Tony stared. “Because you did not just tell me that you haven’t told your best friend that we’ve been dating for sixteen months.”

“It’s not like that.”

“Then what’s it like?”

“I just—she—she isn’t a fan of how you use your money, you know that, so—when we got back together, she was—preoccupied, I didn’t want to—”

“Bullshit. When you want to tell someone something, you’ve got the emotional intelligence of an emu. You didn’t tell her because you didn’t want her to know. Unbelievable.”

“Tony—”

“How has she avoided the tabloids? Hell, a magazine was saying you were cheating on me with her not three weeks ago—”

“I—”

“You’ve kept her out of the loop on purpose. You know, when she finds out, she’s going to blame me, so—if this was some ploy to get her to like me, it’s really not going to work—I can’t believe you didn’t _tell her._ What’s she think you’ve been doing? Working multiple jobs? Letting your student loans accrue more interest than you could ever afford?”

“Wow, thanks. Didn’t realize I was so dependent on your money.”

“You know I didn’t mean it like that. Med school is expensive, and you’re living on your own—”

“Which apparently I wouldn’t be doing if you had a say in it.”

“Is it so bad to want you to have a nice place to live?”

“My place is nice.”

“You had a rat infestation last month.”

“This is New York. Who doesn’t have a rat infestation?”

“I don’t!”

“That the one thing you don’t have, Mr. Stark?”

“C’mon, don’t start.”

“No, no, don’t mind me. Obviously I’m just some pretty arm candy here because I need your money or else I wouldn’t be able to survive on my own.”

“I’m not saying—that’s not what I said. And you know that. As a neurosurgeon—as the best fucking neurosurgeon in the States, if not the world—you’ll be just fine. But right now, you’re stuck working as a shittily paid intern with ridiculous hours for ‘learning experience,’ and that’s not a reflection on you or your work ethic or how good you are, it’s just—”

“That you were born with money lining your pockets.”

“That I inherited a million-dollar industry and made it worth billions.”

“Right, my bad. I forgot I was supposed to kiss the very ground you walk on.”

“I’m not saying that! Jesus Christ, Stephen, this isn’t about money or anything like that, it’s that you haven’t told your best fucking friend that we’re back together! I’d get it if it were three years ago, okay? We were on-again, off-again what seemed like every other week, but—but—” Tony sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I get it. Okay? I throw money at you and keep offering extravagant things like vacations to Italy, but—the moving in thing isn’t—it’s not just another way to pamper you.

“Obviously, don’t get me wrong. I like pampering you. I like giving you gifts, making better mechanisms for the watches—whatever. I do that because I like showing you that I care. But—I want you to move in with me. Not because you live in a bad apartment, or because I want to give you another rich-life thing. I want you to live with me because I want you there in the mornings. At night. At the random, odd hours of the day that you’re not running around the hospital—okay? It’s not—I just—”

Stephen stopped. Swallowed. “I, uh—I guess I should probably tell Christine then. She’s—she’s gonna yell at me.”

“You’ll deserve it.”

“… yeah.”

“So I’ll contact the movers this weekend. I know you’ll want to put everything in just the right place, but I can at least get all the boxes at mine while you’re at wo—”

“Tony?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

Tony grinned. “Love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Find my tumblr here: https://w-m-blake.tumblr.com/


End file.
